Hunger Like a Thirst: From Food Stamps to Fine Dining, a Restaurant Critic Finds Her Place at the Table

James Beard Award winner Rodell discusses the origins and evolution of her food writing career in this charming debut. “I remember the lighting, the tinkle of glasses, the swoosh of the waiters, the mesmerizing, intense luxury of it all,” she writes in the opening chapter, recalling her first fine-dining experience as a nine-year-old in Melbourne. That dinner stuck with Rodell into young adulthood and eventually spurred her to work as a hostess at a trendy restaurant in North Carolina, where she’d settled with a boyfriend in her early 20s. After a stint in New York City, Rodell returned to North Carolina with her husband and baby, and began writing restaurant reviews for a local newspaper to keep the family afloat. She quickly realized she’d found her calling, and much of the narrative traces her subsequent gigs at Atlanta’s Creative Loafing, L.A. Weekly, and the New York Times’ Australia bureau. Throughout, Rodell proves the accuracy of her self-description­—“I’m a classic restaurant critic with a slightly filthier vocabulary and an audience in mind that was less wealthy gourmand and more ratbag line cook”­—with punchy and accessible prose. This hearty, heartfelt missive will appeal to anyone who likes to wax poetic about a memorable meal. Agent: Kitty Cowles, Cowles Literary. (May)